Quoth The Rayvin
by ChaosMage89
Summary: A necromancer is sent to kill the tantei, and falls for the one who destroyed her entire life. She can die if she doesn't carry out her mission, but will she give it all up to ensure his happiness?
1. Prologue

An assassin-for-hire is paid to kill the tantei. Her first target is taken down quite easily, and her next she wants dead for something he did to her only weeks ago. Worse- she's a necromancer, a magician hard to beat and even harder to find, someone who operates in shadows and lives in lies. But she's got a contract that could kill her if she doesn't succeed, and she's slowly but surely falling in love with the one who destroyed her last family member. But can it last?

One, yes the title was taken from a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, two, I don't own YYH. Happy?

QUOTH THE RAYVIN

The old businessman looked the woman up and down, just as she did to him. He looked like a hit man finally gone to seed after years of killing for pay. She looked exactly as his friend described her- dark, menacing, with violet eyes that radiated ice and cut to the core of his soul. He could barely bring himself to meet them.

"I have been told that none of your targets are living. Is that correct?"

"Yes, nor are many of my clients." She accurately read his shocked expression and continued, "If you can't pay my price I'll kill you. You hire me at your own risk."

"What's your price?"

"One hundred million yen." He breathed a sigh of relief, but his comfort was short lived as she finished her sentence. "Each. Except for the last one. I'll only require half for him."

"May I ask why?"

"No, but since you already did, I'll tell you that it's a personal grudge. I trust you can collect _all _of the money by the time I'm finished?" He nodded quickly, his face drained of all color. "I'll keep one of my friends here so you don't feel inclined to procrastinate. I work quickly. Kage?" A shadowy figure appeared before her. It was a black fog with two slits of red light where the eyes would be. Even darker were the black, razor- sharp teeth that glinted through the haze. The old man leapt from his chair with a cry, knocking it over in his rush to put as much distance between him and the ghost the necromancer had conjured. "He'll give you my contract." The folds of her black kimono fluttered as she turned to leave.

The black beast cornered him as he ran, attempting to avoid it, though it became apparent that despite the specter's frightening appearance, it meant no harm. It handed him a small slip of paper, with the words still shining, as though just written...in blood. Her blood. And on it were the words, large and bold; it's script fluid as water and unbroken, 'Quoth the Rayvin, 'Nevermore.''

"I don't understand-" he stuttered, looking up to ask the woman what this was for. But Rayvin was gone, and all that was left in her place was a raven's feather.


	2. Aiseki

Okay, this fic actually nothing to do with Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven. I did borrow a line from it, and it's my favorite poem (along with Dante's Inferno), so each chapter I'll put up a stanza or two of his poem. I even do have some idea how I could portray it in this fic. Weird Fact- Poe actually has the words 'Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore,"' written in his epitaph.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,  
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-  
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,  
As of someone gently  
rapping, rapping on my chamber door.  
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping on my chamber door-  
Only this and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,  
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.  
Eagerly I wished the morrow-vainly I had sought to borrow  
From my books surcease of sorrow-sorrow for the lost Lenore-  
For the rare and radiant maiden the angels name Lenore-  
Nameless here forevermore.

ONE WEEK LATER

No matter how much they denied it, they couldn't hide from the truth- Kuwabara was dead. Shizuru's tears wouldn't cease, nor would Yukina's. The blue hiruiseki had been collected, but they could still hear the occasional tapping as they fell to the ground and rolled across the floor. They were to be placed in Kuwabara's coffin when his cremation came. Even Hiei couldn't help but feel a small twinge of sadness at the news.

Shizuru, suspecting her brother of playing hooky, had gone up to his room that morning. At first she thought he was still sleeping, so she hit him over the head, hard. But his head just rolled to the side, like a rag doll, the rest of his body following. That's when she started to panic, calling the ambulance and tried to revive him, but it was no use.

Kuwabara Kazuma was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Rayvin watched the wake from a nearby tree. Shizuru's parents were away, so instead of kneeling before them, it was his older sister who sat near the altar, looking on as the people who had once known Kuwabara said a prayer for him. Rayvin, instead of he usual emotionless state felt an odd feeling take over her heart as she watched the young woman. It took a moment to realize what it was- compassion, something only her elder brother had ever shown her. 'But he left me and got himself killed,' she thought spitefully. Maybe that was why she could feel Shizuru's pain. "Feh, I don't feel anything," she said aloud, as if that were enough to convince herself. But already a plan was forming in the back of her mind of allowing Kuwabara's ghost a dream visitation once in a while. She flew off, thinking over how she would do away with her next target.

Rayvin wasn't completely heartless; the deaths she caused were all painless, especially Kuwabara's. His had only been a simple matter of extracting his soul and then destroying his life force while he slept. After she killed the next two, her final victim would suffer for what he did to her. He would see his death coming on swift wings, and he would feel it in every fiber of his being. It would be long and agonizing. She could just imagine his screams, knowing that the reality would be a thousand times better than what fantasies her mind could dream.

* * *

The funeral took place about five days later. Kuwabara, dressed in the white kimono and waiting in his ebony coffin for the flames to lick at his body and turn him in to ashes, looked too alive to be dead. It was impossible that one so vibrant and full of life could be in eternal slumber without cause. The doctors were baffled; they hadn't seen something so unusual since Urameshi Yusuke had 'come back from the dead', or Minamino Shiori had miraculously survived a disease that had slain so many others. But the coroners, though they searched long and hard, could come to one conclusion- Kuwabara had dropped dead with no reason. 

They were waiting for the priest to arrive when someone burst into the room, shouting, "Don't burn him!"

"Koenma? What are you doing here?" Botan asked as the pacifier-sucking teen stopped in front of them. Shizuru stood up and stared at him blankly, but there was a small ray of hope behind her brown eyes. She knew something was up when she felt her brother's presence the night before.

"He's not dead, at least not legally. His soul hasn't passed through Reikai yet, so that means only one thing." He waited for the others to try and guess, but no one could come up with an answer. "There's a necromancer after you four."

"What's a necro-whatever you said?" Yusuke asked.

"A death magician, Yusuke. Someone who has complete control over anything to do with death, including revival, and can control someone's soul."

"Are you sure it wasn't something like Goki? Y'know, like it ate his soul or something?"

"I'm positive. A kyuukonki would have ripped his body apart to get his soul. And yes, the Gakidama's still in the vault- I checked," the kami finished as Yusuke opened his mouth to ask about the spirit-stealing orb.

"So he's alive?" Shizuru exclaimed eagerly.

"Weeeeellll, not exactly," Koenma began, hesitating. "He's in a kind of in the same state Yusuke was in. His body's alive, but without his soul, he may as well be dead. As for reviving him, it all depends what the necromancer has done with his ghost. She's more than likely kept him as a sort of slave or companion."

"She?"

"The ability to practice necromancy is a genetic trait inherited only by females. It's impossible for a male necromancer to exist, unless he is given the ability by a woman. Now, get his body out of here now. I'll explain what you need to do when you do. Meet me at Shizuru's house." Flipping his red sash over his shoulders, he strutted out of the funeral hall, unaware of the eyes following his every move. Eyes that burned with hatred towards the god and his cause, eyes which swore revenge on everyone who had reduced her to what she had become...

* * *

REVISION NOTES: 

When this fic began, many of the ideas in it were different than the end results. Rayvin was a teenager instead of a woman, and some of the people in it never existed. Not only that, my timeline was completely, horrendously screwed up. So until my writer's block clears and I can get back to writing Raiden Youkai no Noroi: Zasshu (go read now! Unlike its horrible predecessor, this RYNN:Z is much, _much_ more angst, and the main character now has mental problems :) It's worth at least a quick read), I will be going through each chapter of Rayvin and fixing parts I messed up on. Maybe it'll finally be good enough for me to send into the Forum's Featured Fanfiction section.

CM


	3. Yusuke No Shi

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain  
Thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before  
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating:  
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance on my chamber door-  
Some late night visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;  
This it is, and nothing more.

"Presently my soul grew stronger, hesitating then no longer,  
"Sir," I said, "Or Madame, truly your forgiveness I implore;  
But the fact was I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,  
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping on my chamber door  
That I was scarce sure I heard you-" here I opened wide the door,-  
Darkness there, and nothing more.

* * *

Now for the detective, and then the Jaganshi and then _him_. The first would be simple. The next probably wouldn't be if she continued on her intended course. She would have to think of something else for Hiei. _He_ would die even if she killed herself in the process. Her ambitions were completely forgotten as a white-hot fury swept through her. 

She tossed the pitch-black cloak over her head and felt her bones and muscles change place, her joints move position as she quickly shrank and changed into her the bird that gave Rayvin her name, the raven. It was the only way to travel around in the daylight without getting caught. True, they might think it suspicious for a mere raven to have such a high amount of youki, but it wasn't that noticeable. Unlike her brother, who had pushed himself to become one of the most powerful demons in the world to defeat his captor, Rayvin had pushed herself to become one of the most feared necromancers in the three worlds. She was on the verge of achieving that goal, too, for her mercenary business had given her a considerable supply of ghosts and corpses to control. Maybe she should raise a nekomata or two to help...

Night was about to fall as Yusuke replayed the day's events in his mind. The funeral, Koenma bursting in, and the meeting at Kuwab- Shizuru's house. Yes, that's what it was now. Not Kuwabara's house, Shizuru's. Never again would it be Kuwabara's, unless they caught that damn necromancer. Yusuke wondered what she did with Kuwabara's soul. Koenma had said that she might have kept him as a helot...but for what? What benefit could she possibly have received for enslaving Kuwabara of all people? How could a human soul benefit a demon?

Hours passed, and Yusuke was still awake. Koenma had told them to be alert at all times, since Kuwabara had been killed in his sleep, but the futon across the room looked so alluring...maybe he could just lay his head down for a few minutes...it couldn't hurt, could it? What could possibly happen in just a few minutes, especially if he wasn't going to fall asleep? Nothing, that's what.

The second Yusuke's head hit the pillow he was out like a light.

The wind seemed to whisper in response.

Rayvin flew inside the open window in Atsuko's vacant room and mentally tossed off the cloak. Luckily for her, the woman had gone bar hopping again, and Yusuke was alone in the house.

Silently crossing the room, she tried to remember exactly what she did with Kuwabara- it had been an old spell, a prayer, actually, an ancient one used by those who wanted to preserve a soul completely, but not one beyond her power. Usually the corpses she used were stupid, slow creatures with little more to them than brute force. She didn't want with the tantei and his friends, even at the cost of disobedience. She wanted their power, their memories to be wholly intact, not one thing missing. And she would make sure her final victim was tossed to Cerberus himself, even if it meant she would have to pry open the three-headed beast's jaws and shove the soul down his throats herself.

She finally opened the door to Yusuke's room and walked in, still the silent, sinister grim reaper she had grown accustomed to being, though the tantei was snoring so loudly that there was no way he could of heard her even if she hadn't bothered to be so quiet. Standing over his sleeping form, she pulled out a talisman and began chanting the first spell, one which made his spirit more vulnerable to her command. Her murmuring was barely heard above his breathing, so she almost didn't notice when she was finished, until his body started glowing red. Then came the complicated prayer to Hecate, patron goddess of witches and sorcerers, and the sacrifice of her own blood that was demanded each time the prayer was used. The sword she took out of the sheath was twisted and menacing, and sharpened so that it could split an entire tree in half if in the right hands, so a demon's skin was no problem. She quickly grabbed the blade, ignoring the pain that seared through her, and held the same hand out over the tantei's chest. Five drops fell in quick succession, and the cerise glow concentrated there. Slowly, the tantei's soul rose out, the essence of Yusuke's being, white, eerie. Rayvin seized it with her bloody fist, then quickly spelled the sword and made a motion as if to cut Yusuke's head off, but, though the rise and fall of his chest ceased, his body remained intact. Yusuke's life had ended in the same cold, silent way Kuwabara's had.

Atsuko's anguished cries greeted the blood-red dawn, and a violet-eyed raven flew towards the sun.

* * *

REVISION NOTES:

I can't believe it's been over a year since I wrote this chapter. So many things have happened that it seems like it's been eons since I touched this. I'm fifteen now (and so proud of myself to have made it this long without going completely crazy), and I'm hoping my writing's improving even subtly.

I have to say that aside from a certain reader's steady flow of emails (which are referred to as PMS attacks- Pestering Monthly Syndrome. I don't find them to be a nuisance at all), the review that has made me proudest thus far is Cresent Moon's (Mediaminer). I was always under the impression that my writing sounded like a fourteen-year-old's, and I never though my age could shock someone like that. But hey, that's what teenage angst does for you :P

ChaosMage


	4. Musuko

Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing,  
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals dared to dream before;  
But the silence was unbroken, the stillness gave no token,  
And only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!"  
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"  
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,  
Soon again I hears a tapping, something louder than before.  
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something on my window lattice;  
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore-  
Let my heart be still a moment, and this mystery explore;-  
'Tis the wind, and nothing more."

* * *

It had been only weeks since Rayvin's brother died, and decades since he had disappeared. Why she still held a grudge against the kitsune he would never understand, but it did work to his advantage, possibly giving him some of his money back. 

"Robyn, is she here yet?"

The shaman looked at him from her post near the window and answered , "No, D'Vertola-sama, she's not."

"Is the ghost tied down?"

"Hai."

He looked the young female shaman up and down. She looked almost exactly like Rayvin would in a negative- white hair, golden eyes, dark skin...kind, caring, sensitive. She was worthy to be his daughter-in-law.

"D'Vertola-sama?" Robyn looked extremely nervous as she stared out the window. "You do realize she will be quite angry with you for interrupting her, um, work and for binding her ghost, do you?"

"I'm prepared for it."

"Are you quite sure?" The voice that sounded was far more foreboding and dark than Robyn's lilting accent, and came from the direction of the door.

"R- Rayvin, you're here."

"Do you realize what you've done? I have to watch the Jaganshi day and night if I'm to catch him off guard! And do you know how hard it's been not to get caught?" It seemed as though she couldn't get anymore livid, but when a high wailing like a cat yowl cried, her pale face took on a deathly pallor and she ran over to the chest in the corner where the ghost was being held.

The thing had shrunken to the size of a small child; indeed it took on a child's shape as well, though gender was still indiscernible. It was crouched into a tiny ball around the shaman's white itako beads, which acted like a weight, taking away its ability to move freely as it should. The area around the beads looked charred, and silver tears poured in endless torrents from its red eyes. It was obviously in great pain.

"Get these off of him," Rayvin said simply. Now she seemed far more frightening than when she had been shouting. Her lips were a quivering, thin straight line, and she seemed on the verge of tears. No one moved an inch. "I said get them off!"

Robyn moved from her post hurriedly and ripped the beads off in a haphazard fashion. The ghost screamed again, and the necromancer got up and slapped the shaman square across her face, drawing blood due to the ring that adorned Rayvin's finger. The ghost flew into her arms and she cradled it, despite its inability to be touched. " You call yourself a shaman? I've seen children handle ghosts better than you!" A tear finally fell from her eyes. Though it went right through it, the ghost felt the burning sorrow that only a mother could cry, and wrapped itself around her neck, whispering a hauntingly beautiful song that would have terrified most mortals. "I've lost too much, and now you nearly made me lose my son for good!"

"I know how close you can get to a ghost," Robyn cooed, though it only served to annoy Rayvin, "but they aren't really your children. It can't hurt that bad to have one gone."

"You don't understand, this is my son's ghost! He's been with me since he and his father died!"

"S-speaking of which, that's why I called you here. Robyn?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Could you leave us?"

"Yes, I will," she answered, glaring at Rayvin as she passed, to which the latter responded with an offensive gesture. The door shut behind her with a bang.

"Your former employer called me from the hospital," Mr. D'Vertola began. "He told me that you requested that he aid you in finding out who killed your husb- er, mate."

"Yes," she answered, suspicious of D'Vertola's motives.

"I was wondering," he started slowly, "why you did not ask the same of me."

"I gave up. No one was able to help me. And what are you hinting at?"

"I decided to surprise you, and I found out through very convenient and reliable sources what the cause of it all was." He recounted everything that had been told to him. How her mate and his partner had failed in a burglary, how he had turned back to retrieve the pendant he had lost, how his partner had left him there, and how her mate had been slowly tortured to death.

Rayvin was shaking uncontrollably as Mr. D'Vertola gently guided her to a chair. "I- I kn-knew he was a thief, but I n-never imagined that h-he had d- d-died because of it. He was t-too g-good at what he did, " she stammered, too upset for tears. "N-no one...no one ever dared to tell me..."

"The people who were the direct cause of his have all been murdered themselves, but that does leave one person who deserves to go."

"Who?" She immediately seemed to perk up, though not happy.

"As I told you, his partner forsook him. His name was Youko Kurama, now known as Minamino Shuuichi." A violet fire lit in Rayvin's eyes as she heard the name.

"I thank you for the information, and it was kind of you, but we both know you only did it for money." He began to speak, but she interrupted him, "I admire that. You're not one of those sappy fools who believes that they have to look out for anyone but themselves. I'll give you forty thousand yen for the information." She turned to leave without any word of good-bye, and just as before, Mr. D'Vertola found a raven-black feather on the windowsill.

* * *

REVIEW NOTES:

I have nothing to do during homeroom at school, so this is how I've been passing the time. :P That, and I'm stuck on my current chapter with Zasshu and I'm still waiting for an answer from the person I emailed and asked to beta my fics.

Ja ne-

ChaosMage


	5. Shikei

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,  
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;  
Not the least obeisance made he; not an instant stopped or stayed he;  
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -  
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -  
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,  
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,  
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,  
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore -  
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"  
Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."

* * *

The soft sound of a lullaby reached his ears, a ghostly song that only he could hear, but the ningen in the park below merely felt. The language was a rare one in Makai, being that of the karasu youkai, whose race was rapidly speeding to extinction.

He followed the tune to a small grove of trees hidden in the woods and concealed himself in the brush. The young woman he saw was bent over what seemed to be a small, spectral form of a young raven demon. Had the child lived to see his fifth year, he would have grown to be the spitting image of his father, jet hair, violet eyes, and inky black raven wings. He seemed to be wounded around his chest. Blisters and pieces of charred skin wound around in a complete circle, spreading from his stomach to his neck. He stood there, whimpering, with his head bent to rest on the woman's shoulder.

The woman was bleeding profusely from both her hands and spreading the blood around the burnt ghost. Almost immediately after the red liquid touched the small ghost-child, the skin came together and healed. He was stunned. The only ones who knew that caliber of magic were shamans...and necromancers.

"Are you okay, my little one?" the black-clad woman whispered in a soft, motherly tone. The apparition didn't open his mouth, but an ethereal voice rang out. She seemed reassured, and the ghost smiled and flickered out of sight.

He prepared to leave when she called out, "I know you're there, Jaganshi. I've been waiting for you." The soft voice from before had disappeared, leaving only the chilly tone he had expected to come from someone like her.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing much. Just your life. I'm in need of a powerful youkai such as yourself."

"What makes you think you'll win?" His back was still turned to her, but he could still see exactly what was happening. Her cold amethyst eyes glowed blue shot with orange, and, though there was no wind, her long hair stood up on end and swayed as if she were underwater. Her lips curled into a tiny smirk before she anwered him.

"Your 'friends', Kuwabara and Urameshi, they used attacks fueled by spirit, am I not correct?" No answer. "Urameshi could have undoubtedly been stronger than you, and though you may be reluctant to admit it, Kuwabara could have held his own.

"A ghost is pure spirit. Imagine what would happen to the rei gun if fueled by an apparition's power. Even the rei ken could destroy you in that state."

The ghosts of Kuwabara and Yusuke appeared in front of him. She had been right. Kuwabara's sword stretched to the top of the trees, and Yusuke's first shot had been so large Hiei had barely had time to dodge it. Though the translucent specters before him were undoubtedly them, the rebellious passion was gone, and for some reason it managed to cut the Koorime to the core seeing his allies in such a state.

He didn't bother drawing his sword or unleashing his dragon. It would have been stupid, and a waste of time and energy. It was all he could do to evade their ruthless onslaught. Then he saw it. Right before Yusuke let loose his Shot Gun, he saw the necromancer's lips move minutely, though Hiei couldn't discern what she was saying, and there sheen of perspiration that dripped from her brow. Her eyes were still clouded as well.

Hiei withdrew his sword from its sheath and rushed over to the raven demon faster than the blink of an eye. The cold steel drove through her stomach and out her back. The blue and orange mist slowly disappeared to reveal the icy amethyst eyes that made her look so sinister. But now they shone with anguish and disbelief. No one had ever been awake when she had killed them, none that she could remember anyway. And if she didn't remember them, they had gone down easily and hadn't had much more of a chance than the sleeping victims.

The blade extracted from her body and she felt herself pitch over, clinging to the Jaganshi's clothing before she was roughly kicked away. 'No...Not yet... I'm not ready...' She reached over to the thin bundle that held her sword and cloak. She would leave the sword here. It was too big to try to carry with her in her state. Summoning the last of what little strength she had- she'd never tried to control such powerful ghosts before- she took back the essences of Yusuke and Kuwabara, both of whom disappeared much the same way as the child's soul had. She couldn't see where the Jaganshi was...she couldn't see anything, but she knew he was there. There was only one way out. Throwing the cloak over herself, she again felt herself become enveloped in its warmth, slowly becoming her familiar, she took off in an unsteady flight that was only added to by the flash of pain as he slashed at her yet again, catching her across her chest and right wing. Her dormant demon form felt the pain as she beat the blood into his eyes, blinding him enough to get away, though she was struck once more as the Koorime flailed, trying to locate his target.

There...that house...the balcony...she could rest there...she couldn't hold onto the raven anymore...she would lose it...fall to the ground...die...it was slipping...she couldn't hold it any longer...almost there...

Kurama raced outside as he heard the sound of breaking glass.

* * *

REVISION NOTES:

Not really a note, but I did want to say that I now have a xanga, and those who are fans of my other works as well can go there to see how the next chapter is coming along, and maybe even preview it if I'm in desperate need of help (as I am now). If you'd like to see, please go to http : www . xanga . com / home . aspx ? user Hitsujikai 16. (If you're curious, Hitsujikai is Japanese for shepherd, which is my real last name.)

Ja-  
CM


	6. Karasu no Namida

Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,  
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore,  
For we cannot help but agreeing that no living human being  
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door,  
Bird or beast upon the sculpted but above his chamber door,  
With such a name as "Nevermore".

But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust spoke only  
That one word, as if his soul he did outpour.  
Nothing farther then he uttered; not one feather then he fluttered-  
Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before-  
On the morrow he will leave as my hopes have flown before."  
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

)()()()()()()()(Rayvin's Past)()()()()()()()(

The love between mother and child is a strange and wonderful thing. She can look at the tiny being that had caused her so much pain, so much heartache, and those unpleasant memories will scatter like sakura blossoms to the wind and all that will be left is pure and absolute love.

Such was Rayvin's case.

The second her tiny son was placed in her arms, her heart swelled with such care and adoration that it almost hurt. Almost. Kuronue, who had by some miracle had made it to her side in time for the birth, felt the same. She could see it when she passed the infant to him, despite his protests, and he handled the tiny bundle like glass, indeed, like a jewel more precious to him than anything he had ever stolen. Rayvin may have giggled from the sheer contrariness of it had she not been nervous of wounding his delicate male ego. She was fairly certain that this was the only one of his children that he'd seen. Oh, she was in no doubt that there had been others. Rayvin was centuries younger than he was, there had to have been. And it didn't bother her. Much.

If only Niichan was there. Then she could be truly happy.

"What will you name him?" he suddenly asked, startling her. They hadn't spoken much since he came. Hell, they had barely even spoken on the night the child was conceived; both had been certain that that would be the last time they saw each other, and hadn't wanted to marr it in any way. But before that, the first few times they had been together, they had talked into the night, right up until the sun rose and she fell asleep in his arms.

"The honor rests with the father." That was the way it was, always had been, and always will be with the karasu youkai.

"I wouldn't be much of a father. You will be the one to say his name." True, Kuronue wouldn't be around much, but it was the way things were.

"Why not decide on one together, then, if you're going to press the subject?" He nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed. They tossed names back and forth for a while until Rayvin noticed something. Looking from the child's shock of black hair to his indigo eyes, she saw a replica of Kuronue. A shadow.

"Kage..." she whispered.

"Hm?"

"What about Kage?" He looked down at the baby in a way that seemed to ask "What do you think?' The latter stared back and cooed. "I like that. Kage." Then, in that moment, Rayvin finally said the words that had tugged at her heart ever since he had first taken her from the brothel where she had lived and rescued her from the life she hadn't wanted from the start.

"Aishiteru, Kuronue-san." She looked away and fidgeted, afraid of his answer. "I- I know it probably doesn't mean much-"

"I love you, too, Rayvin," he surprised himself with his words. Gently he placed the baby in the cradle and whispered, "Gods help us both...but I love you." And she wished with all her heart that he meant it as she lunged at him and held him close.

Little Kage's existence was a happy one, as happy as a youkai child's could be. Mama was always by his side, and Tousan came as often as he could, often bringing him a treat of some kind. Both showered love on the small boy.

But disaster struck them when Kage was four years old. The child had accidentally trod on a snake basking in the sun, not recognizing it as a demon. It had stung the little youkai, and its poison was coursing through his veins, making him violently ill. Rayvin stayed up with him for a week trying to ease his suffering, but in the end...

It was raining torrents outside as she tended to the convulsing child. The little hut was kept dark, and there was no noise but the sound of his whimpering. Her only comfort was that Kuronue would be back soon- he would know what to do for Kage.

A loud knocking at the door started her out of the daze she had been in. 'Kuronue...' But it was not him. Three silent, black-clothed youkai wordlessly handed her a broken scythe. One of Kuronue's scythes. It couldn't mean...she looked up at them with pleading eyes and somberly nodded their heads.

Kuronue was dead.

Her voice seemed caught in her chest as she thanked the youkai. She couldn't break down now. She had a sick child to attend to. But as she turned to his bed, she noticed- the whimpering...and the shaking...the harsh breathing...all had stopped. She darted toward him and held him by his shoulders, lifting him off the bed in an attempt to disprove her worst fears.

"No! Kage! Kage-chan, wake up, please wake up!" No avail. No matter how much she yelled or shook the tiny boy, she knew he wasn't coming back. In one devastating blow her mate and child had been taken from her.

Rayvin's scream pierced the dense gray fog outside.

* * *

The pearly white essence floated behind her as she sat, almost comatose, at her son's grave. Her face was streaked with mud and tears, and it took him an instant to guess who she was, even through the macabre mask. 'Why is mama crying?' it thought, silver eyes shining with wonder as it finally identified something from its hazy memory.

"Mama!" it cried, rushing to her, but the woman, who had heard the otherworldly bell-like sound, spun around, and her face became one filled with wonder.

"Mama, Mama!"

"My son!" she sobbed in the same chiming sound the young ghost had, like it was a second tongue to her, or one she had always known and never used.

With the realization that this was a way to hold onto those she had lost, Rayvin's life as a necromancer-for-hire began.

)()()()()()()()(Even Further Back)()()()()()()()(

"Niichan, please don't go." A tiny Rayvin tugged imploringly on the back of her brother's coat.

"Rayvin, I have to." He looked back at the sobbing child with soft eyes.

"But- but he was big, and scary, and the other one was creepy. I don't want you to go!"

"I have no choice."

"Then I'm going with you!" She held onto his coattail with a child-like defiance.

"No! It's too dangerous."

"If it's too dangerous for me, then it's too dangerous for you." He sighed and got rid of her the only way he knew how.

"KYAHHHHH! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!"

He continued. The bomb would follow her until it exploded, giving out smoke instead of flames. It wouldn't hurt her, and by now she knew that, so she let in go off and resumed following her Niichan, this time discreetly. However, she fell so far behind that by the time she got there, he was already beaten.

"NIICHAN!" She slid down the hill that separated her Niichan from herself.

"No, Rayvin!" He turned and reached out a hand, trying to warn her of the danger.

"What's this?" a sadistic voice asked, not really looking for an answer. The young karasu youkai instinctively backed up as far as she could at the sight of him. He resembled a spider as he clutched the bigger man's back, a sickly pale spider with long, stringy gray hair. "A little rat. May I, Brother?" He looked at his perch with an imploring look that made Rayvin sick to her stomach. His brother nodded.

"Niichan!" she cried out fearfully. "NII!" The smaller of the two men flicked his wrist forward. His fingers stretched like rubber and shot toward the frightened girl, but her brother managed to crawl to his feet and move in front of her, taking the full brunt of the attack. She watched, horrified, as the ghastly appendages exited through his back, blood spurting onto her face. She thought he was dead as he slumped to the ground, until-

"Leave my imouto alone. Kill me instead."

"Nii-"

"Urusai, Rayvin," he commanded harshly

The taller of the two walked over and picked her Niichan up by his collar, despite Rayvin's protests, and put him down on his feet. "I have a better idea. Come with us, and we'll set you free when we die. We'll leave the runt alone." He looked directly at the round-eyed petite youkai as

"I have no choice." He bowed his head and crossed his wrists together in front of him. The spider-man leapt from his brother's back to Niisan's wrists, morphing himself into a pair of handcuffs.

"NIICHAN!" Rayvin ran after him, but the other youkai, who she would later discover was the younger of the Tuguro Brothers, caught her across the chest with his arm, knocking the wind out of her as she flew against the rocky hill behind her.

"No! RAYVIN!"

"Kar...Kara...KARASU!" Her tiny hand reached out pitifully towards him.

)()()()()()(A Few Weeks Prior to Quoth The Rayvin)()()()()()(

She searched through the rubble of the stadium, searching for the body she knew had to be there. She had been told about his death; indeed, the kind of person the Tuguro Brothers' treatment had warped him into had caused it. He had advanced upon and threatened the kitsune, saying that he liked to destroy those he loved. What would that have meant to Rayvin if she had set him free like she intended? Would he have killed her as well? She was firmly convinced that it was the Brothers' fault that her beloved Niichan had turned into such a sadist. As for his loving the kitsune...he had always been like that. Bi, anyway. It didn't matter to Rayvin how many women _or _men he brought to their small home on the outskirts of town, as long as they were good to her brother.

There. A lock of golden hair showed through the cracks in the rocks. Had Karasu become that powerful since he left her? He must have pushed himself so hard...did it have anything to do with a desire to return home to her? No one could answer that question anymore. Even Karasu's only possible friend was dead and buried in the ruins, and it was likely that he and Bui had never even spoken to each other.

"Niichan?" The word had not dared escaped her lips since his kidnapping, but it did now with the flood of tears that ran down her cheeks. He wasn't moving. "Karasu..."

Again, a piece of her heart died into ashes as another part of her life was taken away.

* * *

Kurama watched as tears slipped from the sleeping woman's eyes and slide down her cheeks. Her breath came out in shudders and she looked tiny and vulnerable as she lay under the blankets.

Indigo eyes slowly opened as she turned to look at him. "Who are you?"

"Minamino Shuuichi."

* * *

REVISION NOTES:

Again, not a real revision note, but I have some strange desire to tell everyone what a _moronic idiot _ChaosMage is.

I went on a cruise a couple weeks ago. Okay, about a month ago, really, but my mind's still somewhere in Mexico.

Unfortunately, so are my CDs.

When we got off the ship for the last time, we were all sitting in the lounge waiting for our color to be called so we could go home. I was listening to my CD player, and when we were called I got up, picked up my carry-on bag, and left.

My CD case was on that chair. I remember which one too- the chair on the far left of the Chopin Lounge, second away from the entrance of Inspiration Boulevard.

Someone please tell me what a **_DUMBASS _**I am. Right now. Please?

All my CDs except for the one I was listening to at the time (2nd FLCL soundtrack) are gone. L'arcenCiel- GONE. Ayumi Hamasaki- GONE. Rush- GONE. Guns-n'-Roses (this one also happened to be the last gift my bastard of a brother gave me before he took off and never came back)- GONE!

So now I'm on Amazon looking for the cheapest ways to replace these CDs, and looking at some new ones I might get when I finally get a job. Malice Mizer sounds good. And so does Gackt (I'm _extremely_ open-minded when it comes to music. I think the word for that is 'eclectic', but I'm not sure...). And not only that, Gackt's pretty. Very pretty. Unbelievably pretty. I'm going to shut up now before I turn into a screaming fangirl :shudder:.

JA!  
ChaosMage


	7. Yasashisha

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, "Doubtless," said I, "What it utters is only stock and store,  
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster  
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-  
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy bore  
Of 'Never-nevermore.' 

But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,  
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;  
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking  
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -  
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore  
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

* * *

"I want out." 

Those were the first words she had spoken to Kurama during the three weeks she had been forced to stay with him. Because of the fact that her youki was almost non-existent, she was denied the regenerative powers bestowed on more powerful demons, though once the worst was over she would be fine.

"Didn't you hear me?"

"You shouldn't move yet."

Though she was an assassin, Rayvin did have an honor code she refused to break. The thought of killing someone who had done her a kindness made her stomach turn, and she couldn't bring herself to murder Kurama.

And it was making her _miserable_.

"You can't keep me here."

"If you leave for the Makai now, you're sure to die."

"I don't care."

She didn't remember what happened when she had crashed into his balcony, only when she had woken up and asked him his name. "Minamino Shuuichi," he had answered. "And your own?"

"Kurohane." She wasn't stupid enough to give him her real name. That was all she had said. For three weeks the inquiries of how she felt, if she was okay, who had hurt her and what she was doing in Ningenkai had gone unanswered.

"How do you feel?" he asked her now.

"I'm fine. Go away."

"Kurohane-san..."

"JUST LEAVE, DAMMIT! YOU CAN'T HELP!" _'You killed my brother...'_

"I apologize, Kurohane-san. I will leave." Sometimes Kurama wondered whether or not he should have helped. She seemed angry with him constantly, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

Rayvin settled back onto the futon and reluctantly allowed her to mind wander back to when she had been at the tournament. She'd managed to snag a front row ticket by threatening a scalper, and had intended to call to her brother, but, however, just like the last time she had seen him, she was too late. Karasu had been killed just as she hurried down the last stair. She'd fainted upon the sight, and had been dragged out by security for 'stealing' a ticket. Noiseless tears began to roll down her flushed cheeks at the memory still fresh in her mind.

"What's wrong?" a soft voice called. She looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway.

"Nothing's wrong," she said; though she still couldn't hide the tears streaming down her face. The woman, who she remembered vaguely as Kurama's ningen mother Shiori, crossed the room and took the necromancer in her arms.

"Nakuna. Daijoubu."

_'Don't cry...it's okay...'_

_"Kuronue...Sumimasen, Kuronue-san...I don't know how this happened."_

_"Don't worry...Don't cry...Rayvin, everything will be fine..."_

_"But...I can't do this anymore! I just can't...I can't do it, not with a baby!"_

_"I'll help you."_

_"I can't depend on you! How am I supposed to get by in this place?"_

_"I'll protect you, Rayvin. I swear I will."_

"Shuuichi told me that you were mugged." So that was the story he used. Shiori had been away on business for two of the weeks since Rayvin had come, so there was no confusion with her as to how the slight, pale girl had survived a sword through her stomach. "Everything will be okay. I promise."

_'Don't promise to protect me. Everyone who says that lies.'_

_"Mom and Dad aren't here anymore, imouto, I'll take care of you now."  
_

_"I'll protect you, Rayvin."._

_"Don't worry, Mama! Soon I'll be able to protect you when Tousan isn't here, and you won't have to be afraid anymore! I promise!"_

Even that sweet promise had been denied to her, even her precious son had lied to her. Sobs racked her whole body as she cried herself to sleep in Shiori's loose embrace.

* * *

REVISION NOTES:

When I wrote this chapter the first time, I requested that people honestly told me what they thought of Rayvin- I think maybe three did. I still really want to know, so if you do decide to review, please answer the question.

Ja-

CM

**Nakuna**- Don't cry.

**Daijoubu**- It's ok.


	8. Aishiteiru, Rayvin

Quoth The Rayvin, Chapter 7  
  
WARNING- I RATED THIS 'R' FOR A REASON  
  
There isn't anything too graphic (it's not hentai- more emotional than physical) but there is a part where Rayvin and Kurama have sex. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!  
  
**********************************************************  
  
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core; This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er, But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er  
She shall press, ah, nevermore!  
  
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor. "Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee--by these angels he hath sent thee Respite--respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"  
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."  
  
**********************************************************  
  
/"Karasu-aniki, could you read this to me, onegai?" the tiny girl held the book up imploringly, large violet eyes fully awake despite the fact that the moon was at its apex overhead, casting its eerie silver light over their home.  
  
"Eto...Imoutochan, it's late. Go to sleep," her brother answered, exhausted.  
  
"My room's leaking."  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"Ame ga furu." Indeed, the rain fell in torrents outside, and there was likely to be a hole in the roof. No one could expect a thirteen-year-old and his baby sister to be able to thatch it by themselves. "It's too loud."  
  
"Ara. Well, in that case..." He pulled her onto his lap, and she settled there, curled up into a tiny ball as he cracked open the book of children's tales. "Which one?"  
  
She thought a minute, and then answered, "Miukui Ahiru Noko, onegai."  
  
"Alright." Turning to that page, he began reading in a soft voice, "Mukashi mukashi aru tokoro ni..."/  
  
Rayvin quickly snapped out of the retrospection that passed through her mind. What in the three worlds was happening to her? Ever since she had come to the Minamino home, memories of what she and Karasu had been like when they were young had plagued her incessantly. And she blamed it all on that bastard, Kurama. She hated him. Wished him dead. And more often than not, had to restrain herself from ripping his throat to shreds whenever he was in the same room as her. He had somehow picked up on this and now Shiori was the one who checked on her and made sure she was comfortable. Rayvin actually enjoyed Shiori's company, but she had left again. Went on a vacation for White Day with her boyfriend, which the poor woman more than deserved. So Rayvin was stuck with just Kurama again. Gods, she wanted to kill him!!!  
  
"Kurohane-san?"  
  
"GET OUT!"  
  
Kurama sighed and shut the door behind him, leaning against it. Ever since Shiori had left, he had been 'taking care of Rayvin'- if one could call getting screamed at for coming within five feet of her door taking care of someone. She still was wounded horribly from an attack she wouldn't tell him anything about, so there wasn't much she could do to hurt him, but he could tell that she wanted nothing more than that. The anger in her oddly familiar violet eyes lashed out at him, almost as if the fire in there could burn him alive if he stared into them for too long.  
  
Suddenly, a scream erupted from the room behind him. "Kurohane-san!" he yelled. "What happened?"  
  
"Watashi no katte!" she shouted back, the pain and agony she was suffering clear in her voice. "Nan demo nai! Just leave me alone!" Kurama already knew what had happened though. It was likely that she had tried to stand up or moved suddenly, and her abdominal wound had ripped, but from the sound of it, it was hurting Rayvin worse than the initial injury. He opened the door and rushed in to find her doubled over her stomach, crimson blood staining her yukata.  
  
Kurama ran over to the futon where she lay and picked her up, holding a hand against the bloody tear in an attempt to stanch the flow. She screamed for him to put her down, and when he refused, she lunged at him, clawing at his face with her nails, yanking at his crimson hair, shouting profanities at the top of her lungs until she fell against him, her century-old sorrow extinguished for the moment. Lowering her down onto the futon, Kurama felt small droplets of blood drip down his face, yet he said nothing, only turned around as she pulled the top of her yukata down and covered her chest, allowing him to redress her wound. After he was done, she listened for the door to click shut behind him before rising to change out of the bloody robe.  
  
She thought of the kitsune, how similar to Karasu he seemed. Right after their parents had died- they and the rest of their village had been attacked and their wings cut off as trophies- Niichan had forced an operation on them that would remove the reason that their friends and family had been poached. It had been a painful process, something that a three-year-old shouldn't have had to go through, but it was a necessity. First, the joints that connected the wings to the shoulder blades had to be dislocated, then the socket that the wing had been attached to worn down. The skin that still kept it attached was cut, and that was it. It didn't sound that terrible, but she was awake through the entire thing. She had attacked Karasu in a fit of pain and anger, just as she had done to Kurama, and Niichan had borne the entire thing in the exact same way. He was patient with her. He was graceful, beautiful, loving, and above all compassionate towards those he cared about.  
  
Just like Kurama was toward Shiori...  
  
...And his friends...  
  
...And even her, she would come to find in later days.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
Kurama was surprised with the change in Rayvin after the attack. She became more docile and silent as each day passed by. He was allowed in her presence, and she had even told him her real name, even the fact that Kurohane had been her mother's name instead. She still would not tell him who had hurt her, saying that it was something he did not need to know.  
  
Bored with school and lonely from his lack of human interaction (Hiei had gone to the Makai, assuming Rayvin would have gone there), he was spending more and more time with the karasu youkai. Upon discovering that Rayvin could not read, though she had long wanted to learn how, his time became consumed by teaching her. She was an eager and willing student, quite intelligent as well, and quickly picked up everything she taught him. But he never saw her smile, never. It was as if she was physically incapable of doing so.  
  
"Kurama-sensei?" she asked, as she had become accustomed to calling him. "Are you okay?" He had spaced out a bit, making her nervous. She couldn't make eye contact with him, and she blushed every time she felt his gaze rest on her as she laboriously practiced her kanji. Shiori and her boyfriend had gotten stuck in a snowfall while they had been in Sapporo, so she was still alone with him, but this didn't reflect in her mind as a chance to kill her son. It became a chance to get to know Kurama in ways that she hadn't done since Kuronue had been alive. Demonic instinct ran rampant in her veins...and those same instincts wanted Kurama to claim her, erase all her pain in one rush of passion from deep within their souls.  
  
"Hai, Rayvin-san, I'm fine."  
  
Rayvin had heard of Youko Kurama's fame among the female youkai. It had not been good to be a woman living alone with treasures in the house. If he wanted it, he got it, more often than not straight from the woman herself. But it wasn't because of threats; it was because of the seductive charm he possessed, and image that was not the norm in their lives. Even if the charm itself couldn't do its job alone, there were...other ways...ways that any sane woman wouldn't reject. It seemed to be the same way with the human Kurama, but somehow different, as if she would be willing to trust him with her life itself, not just with her pleasure for one night.  
  
Which her libido wouldn't have much trouble doing.  
  
"Daijoubu?" Kurama asked, his face suddenly close to hers. "You look flushed. Should I get you any medicine?"  
  
"Kusuri wa kikanai darou..." she said quietly. There wasn't any medicine that would work.  
  
"Doshite?"  
  
"I...I..." Suddenly she lost all control of her body, leaning forward and placing her lips on his, a soft brush, really, as she was terrified he would push her off and reject her, and was shocked when she felt him return what she had given with the same tentative innocence, almost as if he had intended to kiss her before she had even dared to try. "Kura-"  
  
"Shhh." He was through with waiting. The woman had been a source of mystery to him, beautiful mystery that he longed to discover. He had fallen in love with the youkai without even realizing it, just as she had fallen for him.  
  
"Kurama-san...we shouldn't...-" As he pushed her back onto the futon and slowly climbed on top of her, straddling her hips, she frantically searched for a reason to stop him. But even if she had found one, it disappeared with the first sweep of his tongue against her lips, begging for entrance she more than willingly gave, a moan escaping from both of them. All knowledge she had gained from being with Kuronue fled her mind, leaving the virginal shyness she had once possessed. It was all she could do simply pull down the zipper to his school uniform and help him take it off while her own yukata was quickly shed and flung to the floor. For the first time in nearly one hundred years, Rayvin gave her entire being, mind, body and soul to the one she loved.  
  
"Aishiteiru, Rayvin," Kurama had whispered, warm breath caressing her cheek. She pretended to be asleep as he pulled the blanket over both their entangled bodies, and when the comforting sound of his slow and even breathing filled the room, she took one long, last look at his face before extracting herself from his embrace. Running her fingers through his hair, she whispered her goodbyes, turned, and walked away.  
  
+=+=+=+  
  
I'M ALMOST DONE!!! YAYNESS!!!  
  
Just to clear up any questions about Rayvin's age, she's about 150 years old, which would actually be quite young in a demon's POV. I also realize the whole romance thing might seem quite sudden, but I can't drag this out too long. All I have left are two chapters and an epilogue, so this fic will be finished soon. As for the Japanese, I have no time to type it all out and translate it, so please just go to my homepage, which is an entire site with Japanese that could be used in fanfictions.  
  
Reviews?  
  
Ja ne!!! 


	9. I Love You Too

> "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!--  
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,  
Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted--  
On this home by Horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore--  
Is there--is there balm in Gilead?--tell me--tell me, I implore!"  
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
> 
> "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!  
By that Heaven that bends above us--by that God we both adore--  
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,  
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore--  
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."  
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
> 
> * * *
> 
> It had been nearly three months since Rayvin had left the Minamino home. Kurama had heard word from neither her nor Hiei since that day. It was Christmas Eve, and he spent it alone as Shiori finished some last minute gift shopping for her co-workers. He was planning to go spend the day with those whose loved ones had been lost to the necromancer- Shizuru, Yukina, Keiko and Atsuko, while he, Botan and Koenma would try and help any way they could. Though the pain had long since dulled, this would be their first Christmas without Yusuke and Kuwabara, and would probably bring back memories.  
  
The ringing of the phone brought him out of his musing. He picked it up and said hello, not expecting the voice on the other side. "Kurama? It's...it's Rayvin. I don't have very much time, so please listen. Do you know where the D'Vertola mansion is?"  
  
"Hai, demo-"  
  
"You need to get here, onegai! We need you!" There was then the sound of the phone being wrestled from Rayvin's hands, a crying infant, and the faint sound of Rayvin screaming, "No, please, don't hurt her, I'm begging you!" before the receiver was slammed down.  
  
Kurama barely realized what he was doing as he grabbed his coat and raced out the door. The mansion was across town, and Kurama started running, the sound of Rayvin's cries like a wraith on his heels, chasing him down until it felt as if his chest was on fire. As he crossed the street in the middle of town, a limousine pulled up and barricaded his path.  
  
"Let me pass," he panted as a large man in a back suit got out of the passenger seat and advanced upon him. "Please..." As the man came closer, Kurama went into a defensive stance, hand ready to pull out a rose from his hair if the need for a fight was apparent.  
  
"Mr. D'Vertola would like to have a word with you," the man said, pointing to the tinted window of the back seat.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Rayvin was crouched into fetal position in a corner of her dank cell. At first, she had been simply locked in a bedroom in the mansion, until D'Vertola's bodyguards had caught her with the phone. One had dragged her by her hair down to this hellhole and the other went to tell D'Vertola, who had gone to get Kurama before he could get to Rayvin.  
  
She was scared. The last one hundred years of her life had had a definite purpose, and she had known who she was, and where she was going ('Hell,' she now thought bitterly). Then she had fallen in love again. Now her heart had melted and grown until it was larger than the oceans themselves. She had shifted completely from her dark, ominous self to a person able to feel love, to feel guilt. When she left Kurama three months ago, it had been to find a way to bring Yusuke and Kazuma back, and set things right before she even dared to envision a life with him.  
  
She smiled softly. 'I fell for another thief.' It struck her as almost ironic. But this one had two sides to him. One was Youko Kurama, the daring, clever, seductive kitsune whose name was still whispered among the youkai. The other was Minamino Shuuichi, who was just as daring, just as clever, and just as seductive, but who also was capable of giving his heart unconditionally. She loved them both equally, wanting one no more than the other, though in different ways.  
  
The door to her cell burst open, and Rayvin's eyes became round with shock as Kurama was thrown in, his head landing on her lap. "Kurama!" He attempted to get up, but his hands were cuffed behind his back, preventing him from doing so.  
  
"Rayvin...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."  
  
"Nani-" She was cut off by a voice, one she knew all too well.  
  
"He's been told everything, Rayvin-chan." D'Vertola walked in, flanked by Robyn and her now-husband, Yukio D'Vertola.  
  
No! That would mean he knew about..."Kurama...I tried to fix it-"  
  
"Urusai, Rayvin." He shut the door on his son and daughter-in-law, leaving himself alone with the necromancer and the shokubutsushi. "Now, I'm sure you both want to know why I want the Urameshi Team dead. I nearly lost my entire fortune the day Gonda-san had me bet on the Rokuyoukai Team. Of course, it helped that you had a personal grudge on Kurama, Rayvin." He walked closer to them as Rayvin took Kurama's head in her arms, leaning over him, in such a way that it seemed she was guarding him. "What I cannot possibly fathom, however," D'Vertola continued, "is why you would sleep with someone you hated so much."  
  
"Y-you watched!?" Rayvin didn't know whether to be disgusted with him or horrified that her and Kurama's most intimate moment had been seen.  
  
"We began keeping tabs on you shortly after the Jaganshi attacked you-"  
  
"_I_ attacked _him_," she corrected, not failing to notice Kurama's brief look of anger. It broke her heart to think she had done such a thing, but she couldn't change the past. "-and you stopped returning our messages. You could have taken care of it right then and there, when you were in his house-"  
  
"_He saved my life_," she almost snarled. "I wasn't that heartless."  
  
He reached over for Kurama. Rayvin looked ready to gouge his eyes out until he glanced at the tiny wooden box on the other side of the room. She let D'Vertola pick Kurama up by the back of his shirt and drag him to his feet, though unwillingly so.  
  
Kurama hadn't spoken a word this whole time, his emotions at war with each other, his head spinning from what he had been told. He had destroyed Rayvin's life, but the woman still cared for him. Could he be so forgiving?  
  
"I finally found out what this was, Rayvin," said D'Vertola from behind him. He pulled out a slip of paper bearing the words 'Quoth the Rayvin, 'Nevermore''. Rayvin gasped. "I know if I rip this, you rip. If I burn it, you burn." Again he looked at the wooden box. "And not only do you die, so do those attached to you by blood." He chuckled. "You made this so if by some cruel cosmic joke you didn't complete a mission, you could still die in glory."  
  
'But I never expected this...' She, too, looked at the crate.  
  
"I know how weak you are, Rayvin. Your ordeal just ended a week ago, and you've had no time to rest, poor child, so I'll make this easy for you." He walked over to her and shoved a gun into her thin hands. "Shoot him, or I'll kill the three of you." He held the contract in both hands, ready to rip it.  
  
Three? Kurama's already worn mind didn't comprehend what was being said.  
  
Rayvin raised the gun to eye-level. Kurama closed his eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry Kurama..."  
  
He heard the safety click.  
  
"But this is the only way..."  
  
Her voice had dropped to a whisper now.  
  
"For you to be happy..."  
  
Tears streamed down her face.  
  
"Aishiteiru."  
  
The gun went off. Once. Twice.
> 
> * * *
> 
> (Please remember to flame me on both sides, for even cooking .... )


	10. Meri Kurisumasu Kurama

"Be that our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting--  
  
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!  
  
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken!  
  
Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door!  
  
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"  
  
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting  
  
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;  
  
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming  
  
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadows on the floor;  
  
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor  
  
Shall be lifted--nevermore!

* * *

_And I'm falling  
  
Slowly drifting  
  
Into black oblivion  
  
Head over heels  
  
And I  
  
Can't  
  
Stop_

* * *

A few moments seemed to stretch into hours after the echo of the second gunshot died. Kurama slowly opened his eyes, thinking that Rayvin must have missed him in hesitation or fear. The last thing he expected was the sight his verdant gaze met.  
  
D'Vertola had been shot clear through his head. The slip of paper laid on the ground a few inches away from his body, soaked in blood. This Kurama did not mourn. That was saved for the bleeding figure crawling towards the kitsune, shaking hand clutching a small silver key. He ran over to her, allowing her to unlock the cuffs before holding her in a tight embrace. "Rayvin...Rayvin, doushite? Doushite?" How could she have done this to herself? How...how could she have left him?  
  
She took his head between her hands and whispered a few words before raising her head to kiss him one last time. A dark purple mist swirled around them, growing thicker by the second, swirling in a dance to music only it seemed to know. Suddenly Kurama could hear bells around him, hundreds of them. The knowledge of the art of necromancy Rayvin had gathered became his. He could hear the dead just as she could, and manipulate them just as well if he so desired. Ghosts swirled around him, and two voices became clear enough for him to discern them from the rest of the sounds, joyous yells of freedom. '_Yusuke-kun...Kuwabara-kun!_' He finally understood. Rayvin had made him a necromancer so that he could resurrect his friends.  
  
The clock in the town struck once, twice, twelve times. With her last breath, Rayvin murmured, "Meri Kurisumasu, Kur...ama..." That was all. The woman Kurama cradled in his arms was dead; dead from the gunshot wound she had given herself.  
  
Abruptly, the mist circling around them centered on Rayvin. In an instant, it was no longer Rayvin in his embrace, but a little boy, barely more than four or five years old, with a shock of jet black hair hanging over piercing indigo eyes. He wore nothing but a tattered black stole, and was obviously terrified by his sudden appearance.  
  
"K-Kurama-san?" The redhead nodded. "W-what happened to Kaasan?"  
  
"Do you mean Rayvin?" Kurama asked gently. There was no point in frightening the boy any further than he already was.  
  
"Hai. She's dead now, isn't she?" Tears welled in the little boy's eyes at this thought. "She brought me back..."  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I'm Kage. I died a long time ago. I think Kaasan brought me back," he explained between sobs.  
  
"So you are Kuronue's son," Kurama said with a soft smile, wiping some of the tears away. "Your otousan and I were good friends once."  
  
"What about my imouto?"  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"My baby sister," he stated, pointing to the wooden crate. "She was just born last week." Kurama stood up, cradling Kage in one arm and walking slowly towards the box.  
  
There was an infant nestled in a multitude of blankets, sleeping peacfully until Kurama reached out to touch her. She opened her eyes and looked at Kage, who smiled brightly and said, "Ohayo gozaimasu, Imoutochan." Though the boy seemed so happy-go-lucky and carefree, inside he was crying for his mother, who he had not been apart from for almost one hundred years, but he wasn't about to let his sister know. "This is your tousan, Kurama. Don't worry, Kaasan thinks he's nice." He said this as if he were simply intoducing one stranger to another, not a father to his daughter. Her wide- eyed gaze shifted from Kage to Kurama, and she cooed softly. "Kaasan named her Kurohane, but she doesn't have any wings." Neither did Kage for that matter. Rayvin had done something to ensure that her son looked completely human, though what and for how long Kurama couldn't say.  
  
"Kon'nichiwa, musume-chan." He put Kage down for a moment and placed his heavy jacket over the boy's shivering body. Kurama then lifted Kage onto his shoulders with strict instructions to hold on no matter what happened. He then bent down and picked up Kurohane, wrapping the blankets around her tightly.  
  
There was no point in going out the door with Yukio and Robyn out there, anxiously waiting for D'Vertola's call, so Kurama strode over to the stone wall. Shifting the baby to one arm, he pulled a seed from his hair and placed it in a crack. He concentrated his ki on it, and stepped back as the wall shook and split as the seed sprouted into a plant and grew larger by a second. In a minute, there was a hole wide enough for him to go through. He threw another seed behind him, which landed by the door that Robyn and Yukio were trying to force their way through. It exploded into a mass of thick ivy, which would hold the door shut and give him ample time to run.  
  
They were about halfway home when the two caught up with Kurama and the children. Yukio had a gun and would have surely shot the shokubutsushi had not the weeds in the road grown immensely, engulfing him and his wife. Their muffled cries could be heard as Kurama glared at them cooly, and turned to start running again. A dark shadow appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of him. "Hiei!"  
  
"Give me one of them," he said, indicating the children. "It will be easier for you to run." After a moment's contemplation, Kurama handed him Kurohane. If they were attacked again, he could at least tell Kage to get to safety while the teen fought of the threat; the baby would be completely defenseless in a situation such as that.  
  
"Imoutochan!" Kage cried as Hiei left with Kurohane.  
  
"It's all right Kage, Hiei won't hurt her," Kurama consoled him.  
  
As the house came into view, Kage asked him, "Did you do that?"  
  
"Did I do what?"  
  
"That thing with the weeds right before Hiei-san showed up." Thinking back, Kurama realized he hadn't. "D'ya think Kurohane-imouto did it?"  
  
"It is a possibility." Some youkai had such strong emotion that their powers could be ignited by fear, even those as young as Kurohane.  
  
"I knew it!" cried the boy as they went to the door of Kurama's house. The car was gone, and Kurama assumed that Shiori had gone out to look for him. "Kaasan said she'd be powerful, 'cause you're her otousan!"  
  
He put Kage down and took his hand, guiding him to Kurama's room. Hiei was sitting at his desk, humming softly to Kurohane, which he abruptly stopped when his friend walked in. "Hiei, could you please watch the two of them while I go get some things?" Hiei nodded shortly, and Kage clambered onto his lap, much to the hi youkai's surprise.  
  
Kurama walked in and out of his room and the attic with a bassinet, pieces of a toddler bed, toys, and old clothes that had belonged to him when he was young. After about an hour and a half, Kurama's room was rearranged to accommodate the new furniture, and Kage and Kurohane were sleeping peacefully. Kurama and Hiei were in the living room waiting for Shiori's inevitable return.  
  
"Hiei, may I ask a favor of you?" The Koorime looked at him skeptically, but nodded. "You realize that if I intend to stay in the human realm with my okaasan it is imperative that I finish my schooling." Another nod. "I cannot watch both of the children-"  
  
"You want to keep them?" Hiei asked, mildly surprised.  
  
"She entrusted them to me." There were no questions as to who 'she' was. Hiei had seen enough of the necromancer in both children that he had taken an accurate guess. "I can't give them up." He sighed. "Would you mind terribly watching over them while I'm at school. And, if at all possible, could you train them both when they're old enough?"  
  
Hiei hesitated. Him? Watch children? A toddler and an infant? And yet...it wasn't as if he hated children. In all actuality, their innocent naïveté reminded him of his futago, Yukina. But just as he refused to sully his sister, he also had no desire to ruin Kage and Kurohane. He opened his mouth to say so but was interrupted by the sounds of Shiori coming through the door. Kurama tensed as his mother let out a cry of relief and hugged her son.  
  
Shiori was prepared to bombard him with questions until she saw his sorrow- stricken eyes. "Shuuichi, what's wrong?"  
  
"Kaasan," he paused, readying himself for what he was about to tell her. "Kaasan, do you remember Rayvin?"  
  
"Hai, I do."  
  
"I...She...I got her pregnant." Shiori only stared in shocked silence. "But...Kaasan, she wasn't human." His mother opened her mouth until Kurama said softly, "Please don't say anything until I am finished. She was a karasu youkai, and they carry their children for three months. The baby- Kurohane- is up in my room." He took a deep breath and gave his mother an abridged version of what he had witnessed the night before. "She's dead. She committed suicide.  
  
"There's more." Hiei inhaled sharply. He wouldn't!  
  
He did. He told Shiori everything, the entire tale from start to finish. He told her of his death, and how he had taken refuge in her womb, taking away the body reserved for her true child (which was supposed to be a daughter, explaining Kurama's feminine appearance). "I'm sorry, Okaasan."  
  
"Kurama-san?"  
  
Shiori looked up from her thoughts, and saw a pale, dark haired boy standing at the doorway. Her son got up and went to him, and the little boy held his arms up, silently asking to be held and comforted, to which Kurama complied. "Kurama-san, can I call you Tousan?"  
  
"Hai, Kage-chan," Kurama whispered softly.  
  
"I know you're not my real otousan, but she said you'd take care of me like one."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"K-Kaasan," he sobbed, then couldn't stop. He cried heavily against Kurama's shoulder, occasionally calling out for his mother, while the teen rocked him back and forth. Shiori, a generous woman who could never ignore her maternal instincts, went into the kitchen to get the plate of Christmas cookies she had made. By the time she went out, Kurama was sitting in his previous place on the couch with Kage in his lap, and Hiei had gone upstairs in response to Kurohane's wailing. Had anyone seen him and lived to tell the tale, it would have been found that the Koorime had a weakness for small children even he did not know about.  
  
She laid the cookies on the table, and Kage tentatively took one and bit into it. "Shuuichi...may I see..." She didn't finish her sentence, but Kurama knew what she meant anyway. She wanted to see Youko Kurama, wanted to see who her son had been nearly seventeen years ago.  
  
Shiori watched in wonder as silver snaked through her son's crimson hair, his green eyes became flooded with an almost luminescent gold, his skin paled into alabaster, and his entire physique changed, while fox ears appeared on top of his head, along with a silvery-white tail. Kage, who was still on Kurama's lap, bore this all as if it were nothing, too engrossed in this glorious new Nigenkai food.  
  
"Okaasan..."the being said. Would Shiori reject him? Cast him out of her home? What he didn't know was that Kage's innocent question of, "Kurama- san, can I call you Tousan?...I know you're not my real otousan, but she said you'd take care of me like one," had stuck a chord in Shiori's heart. She had carried Kurama inside her through a terribly difficult present, raised him and loved him for fifteen years...did that not make her his mother? The relief Kurama felt when he saw her smile the same way she had when he was nine and she had saved him at the expense of her own well-being cannot be described in this author's words.  
  
"You are my son, no matter who you are. _You are my son_."

* * *

"Rayvin, you have been sentenced to an eternity in the service of Reikai." The stamp came down, sealing her fate, a fate she had chosen over Purgatory itself.

Rayvin smiled as she was escorted away from Koenma.  
  
--------------  
  
Just an epilogue now. I'm almost done.  
  
Haru, the (fan)girl who helps me run my site, gave me a new nickname. K- chan. You know how the 'Ch' in 'Chaos' sounds like 'K'? That's where she got it. I actually kind of like it. Feel free to call me K-chan if you'd like. The thing at the top is a part of one of her suicide-themed poems, so if you like that part, compliment her, not me. Like I said, her name is Haru.


	11. Epilogue

The raven has flown and will never return. However, the imprint she left in one man's life will allow her memory to survive.  
  
When Rayvin died, she gave her gift of necromancy to Kurama with her last breath in order to bring Urameshi Yusuke and Kuwabara Kazuma to the world of the living once more, but she herself did not want to return. So Fate, in a rare change of heart, granted her final, greatest wish, and her lifeless body was resurrected as her son, Kage.  
  
Kurama raised Kage and his own daughter Kurohane as best he could with help from his friends and mother, especially Hiei, who in the end decided to babysit the two. He never kept them a secret from his fellow students and teachers, but when they were discovered they were met with great horror. Kage stepped in and claimed to be Kurama's orphaned cousin (since his age would have made students assume that if Kage was Kurama's, Kurama would have had to be eleven to have fathered him), but Kurohane's existance caused the Minamino Shuuichi Fan Club to disband, but the organization reformed when the girl turned five and started school. Until then, Kurama continued to attend Meiou Gakuen and then the University of Tokyo, during which the children moved away from Shiori's home to live in an apartment owned by a friend of their father's. He eventually got a job as a biology teacher at Meiou, and the family lived there happily for a while.  
  
Kurama was twenty-four when Rayvin possessed Botan (with the Ferry Girl's consent of course) in order to give him a verbal beating. The kitsune had never dated after her death, which 'pissed her off royally' (in Yusuke's words when Kurama told him about it). At twenty-six, Kurama married Takahashi Megumi, a psychic who knew of the Youko and was never a member of his fan club. They had twins, one boy and one girl, whom they named Itosugi and Akaime. Both grew up knowing that they were hanyou, their half-sister was a zasshu and her half-brother was a youkai, and Akaime eventually became a necromancer because of her father's DNA, but neither of them ever knew the full story of what went on between Rayvin and Kurama. Not even Megumi ever found out.  
  
Kage grew up and married a human woman, but that union ended horribly when their son was born with demonic attributes. Hiei was able to hypnotize her with his Jagan, making it seem to her that she had never even met Kage, and she was eventually remarried to another human. Kage brought up his son alone until he met another raven demon who had been raised in Ningenkai like himself. Along with his first son, the two of them proceeded to have eight more children. "Preserving the species?" was a constant tease from Yusuke, in reference to the endangerment of the karasu youkai. In the long run, they did indeed preserve the species as Kage's descendants multiplied.  
  
Kurohane, unlike her half-sister Akaime, who utilized her power as many believe necromancers do by raising and binding the dead, became a true necromancer, and communicated with the dead as means of divination. For this reason she was kidnapped at the age of sixteen, and for ten years her magic was abused by a human who dealt in a shady business, much as Yukina had been for her tears. Hiei had developed a close bond with the young girl, and went after her on his own against Koenma's orders. By the time the god found her, Kurohane was near dead inside, her spirit broken. She had been starved, beaten, raped, and many other horrific obscenities that had killed the Kurohane they once knew. Eventually, after months of dream visitations from her mother (who tried as best she could to council her daughter, considering her own numerous emotional scars), she returned to her former self, if only partially. She still had a severe phobia of being left alone that lasted her whole life, the reason for which she clung to Hiei. Eventually he took her as his mate, and they had two children of their own.  
  
Rayvin became the Angel of Death, a somber creature with black wings who heralded the end of a mortal life. Though she was offered redemption through Purgatory, she turned that sentence down in favor of service to Reikai, because in this way she was able to keep contact with her children. When they died, she watched over their descendants, and then their descendants' descendants, through generations until they became so numerous that there was no point in continuing. She requested an appeal on her sentence, which Koenma readily gave. After going through Purgatory, she went to heaven to join those she loved. Despite her sorrow-filled life, Rayvin finally found the happiness she deserved. And once in Heaven, Rayvin smiled...  
  
However, even with these questions answered, there is still much more to know. Perhaps a look into the day before Rayvin's entrance to Purgatory will clear the fog, dear reader...  
  
_"Rayvin-san?," the young ferry girl said as she approached the intimidating figure. "Rayvin-san, I came to say goodbye." She held out the flowers she had taken from her own room. "I wanted to give these to you as well..." Rayvin took them from her gently, her normally cold amethyst eyes softening.  
  
"Lotuses," she said softly, identifying the flowers the girl had given her. "Arigato, Hasu-chan, demo...There is something else isn't there?"  
  
"Hai," Hasu admitted. "I wanted to ask you some quetions, but I'm not sure how bold you would allow me to be..."  
  
"Ask whatever you'd like. Maybe...it will do me good to get some things off my chest before I go."  
  
"Why did you kill yourself?"  
  
"My, you are bold...Because I knew it came down to whose life I cared for the most, and in the end I valued Kurama's more than my own."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"...I don't know. But I can tell you I already knew I was going to die."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Necromancers...do you know what they do?"  
  
"Raise the dead using the deceased's soul and remains, right?"  
  
"Iya. Listen...  
  
Necromancy, in a sense, is black magic; sorcery. The word itself comes the Greek word nekromanteia, 'nekros' meaning corpse, and 'manteia' meaning divination, so the word implies that necromancers only communicated with ghosts as a means of foretelling the future. That's what I used to do, before Karasu died. But ghosts only tell you certain things. All I knew is that I was going to have to make a decision, one that could result in the death of someone I cared about. I had myself so convinced that I didn't love Kurama that I was confused as to who it meant. I know better now..." She took a deep breath and continued. "I don't know what I was thinking, but when D'Vertola kidnapped me and my week-old daughter, I simply gave up on living. I knew my child was in good hands with her father, and though I didn't know I was going to resurrect my son, I also knew he would be taken care of."  
  
"Did you mind at all when Kurama-san married that psychic?"  
  
"Megumi? No, not at all. You see...I only wanted for Kurama to be happy, and Megumi was able to do that."  
  
"Why did you want to serve Reikai as the Angel? Why not as a ferry girl or tentai?"  
  
"I do look the part, don't I?" Rayvin joked sadly. "I don't really know. Perhaps Ayame-san can help you."  
  
"Rayvin-san?" another voiced called out.  
  
Rayvin looked up, seeming almost lethargic, and answered, "Aa, Joruju-kun?"  
  
"Koenma-sama is ready for you."  
  
"Arigato, Joruju-kun. Tell him I will be there shortly." The oni hurried off as Rayvin stood up and turned to Hasu. "Thank you again, Hasu-chan." She leaned and gave the girl a quick kiss on the forehead. "Have I ever told you...you look so much like Kurohane? I do wonder..." she said, and then left._

Quoth the Rayvin, "Nevermore." 


	12. OneShot: Every Year, Every Christmas

_**Song**: Every Year, Every Christmas- Luther Vandross  
**Anime**: YuYu Hakusho- Togashi Yoshihiro  
**Fanfic**: Quoth The Rayvin- ChaosMage_

It was Christmas again. Of course, he wasn't Christian, and neither were many of his friends, but the holidays were a festive time of year that they loved to celebrate.

No one saw how much he hurt inside.

The days in the last few weeks of December were not to be wasted, and he refused to ruin everyone else's mood with his misery. But as far as he was concerned, Christmas was something devised in Hell to kill him slowly once a year.

Why did it pain him so, you wonder?

Because _she_ had died as the clock struck twelve on Christmas day. _She _had killed herself and whispered how much she loved him as she bled. Nine years ago, _she _had left him forever.

_I don't know how love could do this to me  
I've waited and waited for someone I never see  
But I'm so sentimental, and I'm so hopeful you'll be there  
So, here I am every year, every Christmas_

Every year he made the trek to her grave, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Christmas Eve would find him sitting in front of the stone that marked an empty tomb, staring listlessly at the top, searching for her. The clock in town would strike midnight, and his breath would hitch as he waited eagerly only to be disappointed yet again. He never cried over it.

The suffering was beyond tears.

She had once said that ghosts haunt the places where they felt most attached. Then why hadn't he ever seen her? Had she lied to him?

_I've wished for you in my heart and in my head  
And I got my answer that first moment that we met  
And, oh yes, I believed you as you told me, as you said  
You'd be here every year, every Christmas_

It had been a whirlwind romance. He'd barely even been sure that she loved him. But there was something in her violet eyes that responded to the fervor in his own. Something she couldn't have faked. It seemed fated that they were to meet...but then why had it ended so violently?

All he could think about was how the hot lead had driven thorough her heart. Her face as she had stared up at him, telling them she had only wanted him to be happy. His cowardice as he bowed his head, afraid to watch her kill him, not trusting that she wouldn't. Had he been looking, he may have been able to stop her from shooting herself after she killed D'Vertola. Had he been looking, she may have lived.

_There must be a lesson for me to learn  
If you don't trust in love, you'll get nothing in return  
Why should I be lonely, don't tell me it's right  
I have my pride, but I'd rather be with you tonight_

She had borne one daughter by him, a pretty little girl by the name of Kurohane. She looked so much like her father, with a mane of black hair that shone red in the light, and large emerald eyes that mirrored his own. His foster son, however, looked exactly like his real father. He was thirteen now, and already he was the very image of Kuronue. There were also traces of his mother and uncle in his thin face, but the boy was nothing like the three of them. Soft-spoken and highly intelligent, Kage was already in high school and doing anything possible to make his Otouchan, as he called Kurama, proud of him. Which he was, and he was certain that wherever his parents were, they were smiling at their young son.

_So much emotion, it's driving me mad  
But I'll take my chances with these feelings that I have  
And I'll come back to this same corner where we met  
And I'll be here every year, every Christmas_

For the ninth time in his life he walked through the gates of the graveyard and located the black granite stone he had chosen for Rayvin. Situating himself in front of it, he became almost invisible in the shadow that the grave cast over him, his sole illumination the soft moonlight. He didn't see the small group of people watching him, hidden in the branches of the weeping willow nearby.

_Mere words can't explain the pain and the fear  
'Cause oh, I wonder, yes, I wonder are you gonna leave me standing here  
Today's almost over, but I don't want to leave  
Has my heart made a fool out of me?_

They had wondered why he went this day every year to that grave. 'RAYVIN,' it proclaimed, and underneath it read _'Omnia vincit amor; et nos cedamus amori... Ave atque vale.' _It had taken them years to discover that it meant '_Love conquers all; let us surrender to love. Hail and farewell.' _Who was this Rayvin? The two of them knew better to ask Hiei, and Botan had only cast them a sad look.

They stood there and froze, watching Kurama's unmoving form for hours until the clock sounded three times to announce it Christmas Day. Kurama rose and left. Yusuke and Kuwabara couldn't miss the sadness in his eyes as they emerged from the willow.

_My friends gather round me with holiday cheer  
They say to forget you, to let you go 'cause you're not here  
Well, I can't keep explaining what they'll never understand  
And why I'm here every year, every Christmas  
I return every year, every Christmas_

The party was in full swing as his friends worriedly sidled over to him, asking the same question they had for the past nine years.

"You can tell us what's bothering you, you know that, right?" Yusuke asked, shaking the red and green confetti from his hair.

"Maybe we should just get you drunk first..."

Kurama chuckled softly at Yusuke and Kuwabara's inquiry, though it was scarcely audible over the Christmas song the girls were playing. His soft eyes glanced towards his sleeping children, Kurohane huddled up against Kage's side, and then out the window to the moon. Slowly, he murmured the last lines of the song to himself...

_  
I come here every year, every Christmas..._

* * *

It's way past Christmas, but when I uploaded it around that time, it didn't show up for some reason. So I'm uploading it now, and hopefullymy little holiday-themed oneshothasn't lost any of its poignancy (If it had any at all -.-')

Oh, and I never properly got to gloat yet. Do any of you get Shonen Jump? Do you remember the survey they had in the seventeenth issue for the seven free YuYu Hakusho DVDs? Guess what? Iwon them.

I was so happy when I opened that box and found them in there. I now can watch any YYH episode from the beginning to Rescue Yukina whenever I want. And best of all, my parents got me a portable DVD player for my birthday (which, like Christmas, was quite awhile ago).


End file.
